Abhorson
Who is Abhorson?
Abhorson is Vienna's executioner, introduced when the Provost enlists him to carry out Claudio's sentence and, shortly after, assigns him the reluctant assistance of Pompey, whose enlistment Abhorson initially resists on the grounds that a bawd would discredit his 'mystery,' or professional craft - a moment of dark comedy in which the executioner defends his trade's dignity against the disreputable tapster.
The city's executioner, whose reluctant partnership with Pompey in the prison provides dark comic counterpoint to Claudio's scheduled execution.
Appears In
Biography
His scenes with Pompey in the prison provide much of the play's grim comic texture during Act IV, as the two debate the finer points of their respective trades while the machinery of Claudio's scheduled execution, and the plot to circumvent it, proceeds around them.
Motivation
Abhorson is motivated by professional pride in his craft, resisting the indignity of Pompey's assistance even while ultimately accepting it as necessary.
Personality
Abhorson takes his gruesome trade with a straight-faced professional seriousness that the play plays for dark comedy, particularly in his objections to being paired with a bawd as unworthy of his craft's dignity.